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Optical Illusions
Anti-Gravity Mirror
Here’s an exhibit where watching is at least half the fun. You can create any number of gravity-defying illusions that will amaze you and your friends: Levitate, fly, swim though the air, grow limbs (and dissolve them), crawl straight up the wall like a lizard—the sky’s the limit.
Benham's Disk
When the disk is spun, the colors you see are illusions. This effect was popularized in 1894 by toymaker C. E. Benham, who called his spinning disk an “artificial spectrum top."
Big Chair, Little Chair
Each of the chairs in this series has dimensions that are twice that of the smaller chair. But doubling the dimension of a chair doesn’t double its strength.
Café Wall Illusion
These tiles aren't really crooked–they just look that way.
Where: Crossroads: Getting Started
Cheshire Cat
Make your partner's face disappear, leaving only a smile.
Dioximoirekinesis
A kinetic pattern seems to move as a visitor's viewpoint shifts.
Where: This exhibit is not currently on view.
Distorted Room
From one view, this room looks like a normal room, but people and things inside may seem quite strange.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Giant Mirror
This giant mirror was originally part of a flight simulator. Its size and near-perfect smoothness makes for astonishing optical (and acoustic) effects.
Gray Step
With the rope hanging down, the left and right sides of the board appear identical. Lifting the rope shows the dramatic difference that your eyes missed—and continue to miss, as soon as you let the rope fall again.
Look Into Infinity
Reflections bounce back and forth into infinity.
Magic Wand
Wave the wand quickly and see an image appear.
Mirrorly a Window
Confusing sensory information can be profoundly disturbing.
Moving Objects
These rings on a string pass through each other—don’t they?
Where: Ray and Dagmar Dolby Atrium
Touch the Spring
Light from a real spring bounces off the mirror to form the image you see.
